Rum, Romanism and Rebellion

It was reported to me a few weeks back that Lori Oien was complaining to folks that Rodney Glassman was not involved in his neighborhood association. First of all, it’s not even true. Secondly, even if it was, it would be a better charge to level at someone who had no previous community involvement, as in “he […]

I recieved an e-mail from a reader who asked me about a rumor that Jim Pederson was going to chair Hillary Clinton’s Arizona campaign.
I took extra-ordinary measures to verify this rumor. I picked up the phone, and called…
…Jim Pederson.
I go this extra mile because of the love I have for you, my loyal readers.
Pederson told […]

Okay, you know that thing I posted mere moments ago about Sen. Jack Harper and his “tour” of the State Veteran’s Home? I already have more details.
Harper showed up early this morning and represented that he was doing his own “independent investigation” outside of the joint committee that was established to investigate doings at the Home. […]

Sometimes, I hear things and the egomaniac in me wants to think that my blog had something to do with it.
Remember how I poked fun of Sen. Jack Harper for complaining about the State Veteran’s home but he couldn’t be bothered to show up for a scheduled tour? Well,  he showed up bright and early this […]

Check out this video of General Services Administration official Lurita Doan, captured after her testimony in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
I knew that being out of power would only amplify the conservatives mix of self-righteousness and whiny victimhood, but I didn’t know that they would go downright bonkers.

At the Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner, Karl Rove did a rap about himself. I keep hearing how this shows he’s got a sense of humor about himself, because middle-aged white guys pretending they are hip is always funny. Well, that’s what the middle aged white guys in the room are writing. You know, always […]

Remember when earlier this week Sen. Jack Harper attacked Congressman Harry Mitchell for visiting the State Veteran’s Home and ignoring the problems he found there? Well, as you know, Mitchell didn’t make his visit to the state’s Veteran’s Home, but instead he visited the federal Veteran’s Hospital in downtown Phoenix. Harper seemed to have trouble […]

Last week, Bill Richardson came to Phoenix for some small events. At the time, it was announced that Ed Pastor would be Richardson’s honorary campaign chairman in Arizona.
With Pastor would probably come a whole raft of elected officials in the Phoenix area. I’m wondering if this also means that the “Eckstrom machine” will sign on too. Dan […]

I’ve been meaning to make mention of Chuck Blanchard’s new blog ever since Espresso Pundit plugged it a few days back.
Blanchard was a State Senator back in the early 1990’s after a law career that started with clerking for Sandra Day O’Connor. He made what can charitably called a kamikaze run at a central Phoenix […]

So, in my continuing attempt to burden you with soccer references, consider last year’s stats for two players for New England:
Taylor Twellman - 11 goals scored
Matt Reis - 0 goals scored
Wow, it looks like this guy Reis was about useless last season. In fact, he’s played for the team since 2003, and he’s never scored a goal. […]

Tim Bee and Jim Weiers have assembled a committee of legislators to look into the apalling conditions at the Arizona Veterans Home. The committee will include Southern Arizona legislators Jonathan Paton, Manny Alvarez, Victor Soltero and Charlene Pesquiera.
I’m glad the legislature is taking action on this. And, yes, Janet Napolitano bears responsibility since it did […]

The Arizona Capitol Times reported yesterday that Trish Groe will be taking a leave of absence from her legislative duties to seek treatment for alcoholism.
Monday’s Yellow Sheet featured several bits on Groe’s problems, including an excerpt from this blog (but they called me “Tim”). One “railbird” they talked to questioned why the Arizona Republic “broke” the […]

The Tucson City Council last night voted 6 - 1 in favor of a development on the South Side that will likely include a Wal-Mart. Well, it doesn’t explicitly say a Wal-Mart, but the developer demanded exceptions to the “big box” ordinance that are usually only demanded by Wal-Mart.
Congratulations to Karin Uhlich for voting against […]

Got a call the other day from a reader who told me, “You should write something positive, you know, like how Rodney Glassman had 200 people at his campaign kick off party…”
Yeah, I didn’t write about Glassman’s campaign kick-off on Friday. I meant to, but it slipped by.
Glassman’s kick-off was, yes, packed. The variety of […]

Tonight’s All Things Considered includes a story about Dennis Hastert’s gripe that Paul Charlton wouldn’t prosecute marijuana smuggling cases of less than 500 pounds. The host interviewed our own Barbara Lawall to find out how this affected local prosecutors.
She complained about the “triage” that she must engage in because she is forced to devote personel […]

I recieved an e-mail from a reader the other day who gave me a link to Salette Latas’s website and requested that I put it in my “Election Aught Seven” section. Even back when I had the old Blogspot blog, I tried to keep the list down to candidates that I could actually vote for. […]

Yesterday, I threw out an allegation that was unecessary for the point I was trying to make. I alleged that a reporter had written a story downplaying the Rick Renzi indictments, and was later hired by a firm that does work for Renzi’s attorney. Well, I went back and checked the story. As it turns […]

A friend of mine who is active with the Samaritan Patrols attended a meeting with the Border Patrol. Someone asked about the buses that transport the detained aliens, and asked if they were given water on the buses, since these guys have just been wandering the desert. They were told that there was no water […]

I waited until today to post this because Mondays have my highest readership. Last Sunday, I posted an item referencing Steve Emerine’s column about Mayor Bob Walkup. I noted that Walkup had Emerine’s support in the 1999 election, and said that in the 2003 election, many of the Democrats that took a walk with Emerine in […]

I detest the “-gate” construction. You know, where reporters name a scandal by simply ending it with the word “gate” and think themselves clever. I find it lazy, and none too revealing about the nature of the scandal. It also tends to diminish the importance of the Watergate scandal when every second rate minor scandal […]